AUG 17, 2018 17:18 hrs UTC +5:30 | Former Prime Minister of India
NEW DELHI – A prominent leader and former Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee dies at the age of 94 on thursday evening Aug, 16′ 2018. The whole nation mourns the death of Mr Vajpayee. His work’s set the gold standard for nation building efforts and national integrity.
Along with his political career, he was a news editor, a stunning orator and a great poet in his personal capacity, Vajpayee, 94, one of the founder members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), served as prime minister for 13 days in 1996, 13 months (1998-99) at the head of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government and then for a full five year term (1999-2004). He led a foundation of Golden Quadrilateral National Highway project and Gram Sadak Yojana to bring connectivity between the rural and urban for proper development in remote areas, where lives were miserable at time.
He had announced his retirement from electoral politics in 2005 and withdrew further from public life in 2009 after suffering a health issue.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee: ‘Main jee bhar jiya, main mann se marun – I lived fully, I die accordingly by my mood’ and ‘ geet naya gata hun- sings a new song – was a greatest hit among all ages. A few lines from his previously written poetry above.
He was admitted to AIIMS on June 11 for age related illness and later put on life support.
Born in Gwalior on December 25, 1924, joined the RSS ( Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ) in 1939. He became its national president in 1968.
During the Emergency (1975-77) he Imprisoned along with other opposition leaders. He subsequently served as Minister of External Affairs in the Janta Party Government headed by Morarji Desai during 1977-1979. After the Janata Party’s collapse, Vajpayee, along with long-time associate LK Advani and others, set up the BJP in 1980.
Over four decades of his active political career, he received best parliamentairia award and later, Padama Bhushan award during his service to the nation. He was conferred the Bharat Ratna in 2015.
According to serving prime minister of India, Mr Narendra Modi in his statement he said -It was his leadership that set the foundation stone for a strong, prosperous and inclusive India in the 21st century. His out of the box policies across various sectors touched the lives of the common people of India.